


Little Red Numbers

by JellyFicsnFucks



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Classic bros, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Escapism, Explaining Genocide run, Hallucinations, Mental Breakdown, Repaying Debt, Stress, Taking care of sick sibling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 08:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17261162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyFicsnFucks/pseuds/JellyFicsnFucks
Summary: One day, little red numbers appeared and they drained away Sans' health. His mental health. Sans woke up in bed, a new day, the same troubles. The same number ... ticking away.  -999How else can he





	1. Escapism

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for being gone from this fandom for so long.   
> I've taken some stories with me when I left, so please excuse the mess while I re-upload old work. 
> 
> I'm really surprised to have a following of people who like my stuff, so thank you for the love and support. The messages I've gotten mean the world to me and it makes me terrified to let you down. ฅ(๑’Δ’๑) I'm really sorry to leave you hanging for so long.

There was a pattern discernible only through the monotonous echoes of words that rung boringly through hsi skull and the pattern of wear and tear on his bones. A number counted up in his head, like dejavu. Its proof was wrought by the trail of dust through the hallways. As always, there lingered a vivid memory. Fleeting memories like waking from a dream and yet haunting him with paranoia - like waking from a nightmare. He remembered the bright red negative numbers passing by his peripheral. An arc of blood, a gash in his chest, falling to the floor and writhing in pain as footsteps brushed by him- unconcerned for finishing off trash. 

The world would fade. His consciousness would fade...and then he’d wake up. Another nightmare. Another day. 

Except it was always the same day. And even repeating it a thousand times Sans still felt confused and disoriented in ways he couldn’t explain. 

Why was he the only one that knew? Why was a number in his head slowly climbing? Why did he always die alone in that stark hallway? Why did the human, time after time again, continue to pointlessly kill??

There would never be any real answers.   
Perhaps a god above would shrug and answer ‘just because.” 

 

Because there was never any reason he was encumbered with these unique memories.   
Because morality was an odd sensation for the being that existed out of time.  
Because there was never any reason for violence. 

… It was enough to drive a monster insane. 

Thank goodness Stretch had come into their lives right then. Sans had at first found it strange to be staring at his brothers copy. A hoodie wearing figure just like the little brother he lost, appeared before him in the hall of judgement just as orange streaking lights become dimmer. His conscious mind was being bled out by the gash in his chest and all Sans could think of was his angel little brother. “Papyrus…” 

But Stretch was the one who held him instead. Whispering soft coos of words, using healing magic for a lost cause. Sans was far too gone, he knew it. He knew the murmurs belonged further in a memory. A brother he couldn’t face. 

When he woke, things were different. Stretch was in his room. 

“Uh.. hi.” Sans waved. “Why are you here Stretch?” 

“I was a bit worried after you, ya know- fainted. Nyeh heh.” Stars… he even laughed like his little bro. Sans clutched at his invisible wound. Healed with yet another reset. A reset. Papyrus would be back downstairs, pouring cereal for two, but Sans didn’t feel like coming downstairs. Not yet. 

“Sorry you had to see that.” 

“No big deal. Same thing happens in my world.” 

“Your world?”

“Yes. In my world theres a human too. They kill everyone and reset the world like a game.” 

“How do you cope with that?”

“Escapism.” The answer was immediate and Sans knew something about that seemed oh so right and yet wrong at the same time. He looked down at himself, throwing away bed sheets from his sweat laden form. He stood up and tried to make himself proper. He was meeting a new monster after all. He threw his sweater on and reached into the pockets. The ol’ whoopie cushion in the hand was the best way to make new friends after all. He held out his hand. “I’m Sans. Nice to meet you-”

Stretch was gone when he looked back. He was holding his hand out for no one. Alone in his room, Sans mumbled his words. 

“SAAAANS BREAKFAST IS READY!!!!” Papyrus hollered from downstairs. “HURRY OR IT WILL GET COLD!!!” Sans chuckled darkly, his eyelight felt heavy as the joke settled in. Hadn’t heard that one a million times before.

Where did Stretch go? Sans looked around his room, half expecting Stretch to be hiding among the clutter. He’d been meaning to clean his room… but it would be pointless wouldn’t it? Everything would just be reset. Always the same… always… the headache. 

He ventured out into the hallway. “I’ll be there in a minute” Papy, let me brush my teeth!

“Make sure you brush your teeth Sans!”

just said I will! Don't treat me like a baby bones! Sans scolded. He stomped down the hallway and into the bathroom. He grabbed his toothbrush, it was the blue one with the star shaped handle. He poured a copious amount of toothpaste on the bristles, half caught in staring at the glitter inside the striped mint rainbow. Stars… glitter… rainbow… those were nice things. Maybe he could just take off a work day and read today. Who cared if the human ran rampant, leaving a trail of red in their path? They wouldn’t return in snowdin until the end of the month. Just a few weeks of peace was nice. 

He started brushing his teeth, looking at himself in the mirror. When did he get so old? The dark gray smokey haze around his eye sockets looked sleep deprived. His posture was slouched and his ecto stomach, even invisible, gutted out from under his jacket. Disgusting. The white pin prick eye lights were not pretty either. They looked … normal. And Sans didn’t like that. 

He tiptoed closer to the bathroom mirror above the sink, leaning his weight on the cold porcelain. His magic was blue. Why weren’t his eyes the same color? 

He tried to will a spark of magic to his eyelights, morphing the shape of them to something a bit bigger … brighter. 

And from the corner of his eye he saw Stretch on the rim of the bathtub. 

“AAAaa!” Sans through his toothbrush up and jumped backwards against the door- incredulously pointing at Stretch. “What are you doing here?! I thought you weren’t-”

“What? Real?” Stretch laughed. “No, I'm pretty real. It's hard to stay in one dimension all the time, ya know?” 

“Makes sense.” 

“I can explain.”

“No, I get it. Oscillating to this frequency in time and space must be exhausting, I imagine your teleporting to a place out of bounds right?”

“And everytime I get pinged back to solid ground I just return to that spot outside. Yeah.” 

“That sounds alot like a videogame.” 

“Yup.” 

Sans paused. This conversation seemed to be going a bit too smoothly. Since when could he ever geek out about his science theories with Papyrus? Stretch was a bit of a nerd like he was, but even this much information seemed impossible. It really seemed like some shitty mechanic in a simulation. A game was putting it too lightly. He knew his world might very well be a play thing for the human… but for some eerie reason this was too real. Like… too convenient an answer. 

“Are you staying here this time?”

“Maybe. My lil bro just made breakfast. I might be gone for a bit to eat something.” 

“Oh.” Sans tilted his head. So this Papyrus had a brother too? Probably named Sans as well. Did he ask for a name once? How did he nickname this guy Stretch anyway? And Blue. Why did those names come into his mind? Was the space between worlds collapsing? It seemed impossible to know these things. Stretch teleported away again. 

It was a rare occurrence… but it wasn’t unwelcome. Sans relished in the change. A small smile came to his face. He resumed his spot back in the mirror, looking at his own reflection. He looked nicer with a grin on his face. He brushed his teeth and soaked his face for a long time. 

There's a knock outside his door and Papyrus yells loudly. “SANS? DID YOU FALL ASLEEP ON THE TOILET YOU LAZY BONES?”

“No. I’m awake bro.” Sans opens the door, bearing a wide smile, he bumps into Papyrus. “I was just talking to Stretch.” 

“You were … stretching? That's good Sans, even moderate exercise is-!”

“No silly, Stretch! He was talking to me.” 

Papyrus ducked his head into the bathroom, a bone brow raising in question before he made a small O with his mouth. “Is Stretch one of your friends on the Undernet?”

“No~! Stretch is a Papyrus. He’s like your cosmic twin! He’ll be back you’ll see!”

Papyrus bit into his glove and removed it with his teeth, laying his bare phalanges against Sans’ forehead. “... a bit hot…” Papyrus murmured. “I can take off from patrol today. I’ll have Undyne recalibrate my puzzles. But we need to go to the doctor.”

Almost immediately Sans jumped backwards, hitting the door frame. “What-?! We can’t leave Papy! Its rude to our guests!”

“What guests…”

“I told you Papy. Papy is coming over!”

Papyrus sucked in a breath. He couldn’t hide the look of concern on his brow. Sans was smiling for what felt like the first time in months. His stoic brother usually only cracked a smile that big when he made a bad pun… It was unsettling. And his eyes. His eyes were small stars, blue in color and misshapen. He tied his jacket around his waist. And for some reason he pocketed his toothbrush along his belt buckle like some utility belt. 

“Sans, brother.”Papyrus spoke softly, “I’m feeling sick today. Can you take me to the doctor?”

“What??? PApy?! Your sick?”

“Yes. Very sick.” 

“Mweheh. I told you smoking is bad for you!” Papyrus’ face twitched trying and failing to quickly to become neutral. “We’re going to the doctors Mr and thats final!”

Sans grabbed him by the hand and started to march down the stairs, dragging along a very frightened skeleton. 

\----

Papyrus waited as patiently as he could to see a doctor. He had followed Sans ‘leading’ the way to the doctor and had filled out the paperwork the nice bunny woman behind the counter handed to him. There were some fields he didn’t understand… like household income and dependent card holder… usually Sans was the one to fill out forms like this. But he tried his best. 

As the waited it seems Sans’ symptoms were getting worse.The skeleton was kicking his feet outward back and forth and hummed nonsensical lyrics loudly to the annoyance of other monsters waiting. When the nurse at last called for them Sans got ontop of his chair and proudly announced that yes, he was indeed the magnificent Sans the nurse was looking for. 

Papyrus avoided eye contact with his friends and neighbors and shuffled his brother inside the office.


	2. Last notice

Papyrus stared dumbfounded at this bill. 1500g for a visit + bloodwork. All for the doctor to say they have no clue what's wrong with his brother. Getting that blood from the marrow in bones was painful. Sans cried the whole time and demanded a lollipop. They checked his soul next, extracting a small sample to be sent back to a lab in Hotland. It whittled Sans health down to .4 just to fill the minimal sample tube. 

Sans was healthy in every way. Papyrus feared it was a fever, but the doctor simply said it was normal since his magic was actively being redirected to his eyes. Apparently that would clear in a few hours once the flow of magic settled. 

1500g and the best guess a professional had was ‘stress’. 

Papyrus crumpled the bill in his hand. Professional be damned, something was clearly wrong with his big brother. Was stress really the only answer? Sure… Sans had a couple of jobs in the underground. A hotdog stand… and fried snowballs… a stand up comedy act… guard duty… selling tickets for concerts… wowie that was already more than 5. Did Sans have more jobs Papyrus didn’t know about? 

Come to think of it… how were they living in such a huge home in Snowdyne? And where did other bills like this go? Papyrus never received a bill in the mail… 

He ominously turned to the overstuffed mailbox outside his home. The one that belonged to Sans. Carefully he pulled it open, not at all surprised by the overflow of letters that heaped into the snow. He tried to catch them with his knees, but ended up stepping on some. He ended up using his scarf as a bag to hold all of them. 

When he walked in with Sans he dumped the mail on the coffee table and began opening one after the other. Sans wouldn’t care or notice he bounded to the kitchen and announced he was going to make tacos or something. 

Bill after bill, eviction notice after eviction notice.. Papyrus stared at the mental burden his brother had been suffering through. It all started to paint a vivid picture… an older brother spoiling his younger sibling. An older brother who wouldn’t even buy himself a mattress and yet bought and assembled a race car bed for his beloved younger brother… despite bills amassing. Priorities gone askew to mimic a childhood. Toys bought out of excess and love rather than sitting down and discussing how they couldn’t afford more than boxed pasta and cereal. 

And Papyrus didn’t even know about the true nature of the resets back then. That concept was completely out of his scope… and yet it weighed deeply on Sans. So much so- that he began to create alternate universes… and bring life to characters like himself and his brother just so he could escape the unending loop in his memory. 

“Sans…”Papyrus called him over, voice shaking with a slight trepidation. He’d run the numbers again and again and owing back this much… “Sans do me a favor.” Papyrus got up from where hs sat on the sofa and came to his brother since the other wasn’t leaving the kitchen. “Sans don't go to work tomorrow. Okay? You hear me?” 

If stress was the only thing the doctor could come up with...then Papyrus would do everything in his power to make his brothers life less stressful. He thought the lazybones was already stress free and sleeping in all the time like some housecat. But the exhaustion of working so many jobs painted his lazy brother in a new light. The rush to meet up with bills and also fund Papyrus’s whmis created a disconnect Papyrus didn't’ want to accept… but he had too. 

Tomorrow, he’d go to the pawn shop and sell anything he could. His movies, his toys, his books… anything worth value. He didn’t need it… they were lavish gifts he didn’t deserve. It was time to start giving back to his brother. He had to be part of the household… even though he didn’t know how. Undyne wasn’t going to employ him under the royal guard anytime soon. 

“Sans, I’m talking to you.” 

“S-ssorry!” Sans sputtered, he nearly fell off his stool and it would have taken the pot with him. Papyrus scowled, staring at the empty pot Sans was stirring.

“Sans… I want you to go to bed right now.” Papyrus wilted inside, watching as Sans’ face contorted in what could only be fear. Did he say that too rudely? Perhaps he should have said something like ‘read me a story’ instead to get his brother to go to bed? 

“..k..kay boss.” Sans hopped down from his stool and took the long way out the kitchen, snaking around Papyrus without ever once turning his back on him. Papyrus clenched his teeth together, a bit worried. Heavy footsteps climbed upstairs followed by the slamming of a door. 

All he could do now was let Sans sleep while he tried to solve this on his own. Papyrus sucked in a breath and looked around the house, taking note of various items around the house. Things that could be worth money to sell back. Like the tv. Those luxuries came second when compared to his brothers health. Faced with a new resolve, the next hour was spent packing and storing items upstairs and downstairs to pawn.


	3. FRISK

When Sans left his room the house looked different from before. Things were scarcer…

Items like the coffee table and shelves were stacked along the wall striped bare. And in rows of boxes lined books and toys and nicknacks, plates and cups, lamps and vases. Picture frames that had been on the walls for years were settled along the floor, leaving the square imprint of unfaded paint on the wall. 

Papyrus opened the front door, grabbed another box, and closed the door again before a chill could pass through the house. He didn’t even notice Sans was awake. The small skeleton looked around the house, moving quietly from room to room finding they had been stripped and deprived of the life it once had. 

“He’s getting rid of it all.” Stretch purred, teleporting in on his left. “He’s been packing while you were asleep. Busy little cinnamon roll.” 

“Why?”

“ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?” Fell scolded. Sans snapped his head to stare at the intruder. “HE WANTS TO GET RID OF YOU.” 

“Get rid of me?” Sans wilted. “Why?? What did I do?” Sans clung to the banister and looked outward at the dismantled room. “Does Papyrus hate me?”

“He doesn’t know about the resets.” Stretch sits up on the banister. “He probably thinks you’ve gone crazy.”

“Hasn’t he?” Fell chimes in. “You two keep speaking about resets. It's ridiculous to me. How come I don't remember it.” 

“Cuz your a papyrus.” Sans sighed. 

“Fuckin hell, your a Papyrus too- Ash trash!” Fell pointed an angry crooked talon. 

“I’m a swapped Papyrus. Inside I’m a Sans. Same as him.” Stretch stuck his tongue out. 

Sans stared pitifully down at the empty living room. “Both of you, shut up.” He murmured without lifting his gaze. His head pressed against the wooden beams overlooking the stairs. “I can fix this… I just need silence. I need… need Boss to know I’m valuable. I can help. He doesn’t have to get rid of me.” 

The door swung open again. Papyrus grabbed a box and promptly closed the door. A pattern, slowly clearing out the boxes. Sans went downstairs. Tiptoeing past boxes, and curiously peeking in each one. Giftmas decorations, old clothing, board games, dog toys… a leash caught his eye. It was from the time Papyrus tried to train the annoying dog. Why was Boss throwing this away? Red picked it up and clipped it around his neck, a perfect fit. Why would they throw out something so useful?!

The door opened again. “Oh-Sans!” Papyrus chirped, hanging around in the open doorway let in a breeze that was too much for the small skeleton. He unwrapped his hoodie from his waist and fluffed it over his skull, sticking his hands in the pockets. Papyrus kicked his boots at the entry and closed the door before the skeleton shivered to death. “Did you sleep well brother?”

“..y..yeah boss.” Papyrus sucked in a sharp breath. “...Can… I help... ? You moving? Or somethin?”

“I’m selling this stuff.” Papyrus answered honestly and simply. “I’m selling the house.” 

“W-! Where… will-??”

“We can live in a smaller place. An apartment in New home… or Hotland… I don't know … I haven’t gotten that far yet.” 

Papyrus shuffled in place, crossing and uncrossing his arms. “Sans… I think… you’ve had a lot on your plate. I want to help. I’ve seen all the numbers in red… I didn’t know what this was about before but now I do.” 

“You know about the resets-Boss?!” Red’s pupils disappeared. He clutched nervously at his own phantom scar… red digits fading down to nothingness. 

“...yes.” Papyrus gulped, accepting the name if only to further this conversation. “I’ve seen the balances. I know… “ He got to his knees, trying to look Sans in the eyes. “I know you’ve been hiding this from me Sans. And it explains alot… the nightmares… the panic attacks… I want to help.”

“Then we have to kill the human!” Red sneered. “Its the only way to stop these resets from happening!”

“...excuse me?”

“Everytime the human is here- they corner monsters to give up more and more health points until there's nothing left! Frisk has slaughtered the underground countless times! And they keep resetting Pap! Like nothing ever happened! And the red numbers they keep piling up… I only have a measly one Pap! ONE POINT!… and yet. Yet… when they attack its always -9999… I can’t keep up! Its painful! Its painful and I-!!!” Sans sobs, falling to the floor and clutches his chest. 

Sans doesn’t cry like this. Even in the doctor's office, his cry was more of a sharp whine and complaint and an act to be treated like a baby bones. But this… this was a grown man just barely holding it together, weeping like an actual baby. It broke Papyrus’s heart. Immediately he leans in and holds his brother, trying to settle this panic attack again. He shushes him softly and places his own hand over the spot where his brothers soul is beating so fast.

Scattered among the floor are countless letters he’s opened and read. Papyrus stares at them…finally putting this mystery together. Piece by piece like a giant puzzle, this all became clear.

Little red numbers… small expenses that kept adding up. And loans that never got paid back- a vampiric interest rate was slowly draining the balance. Going into negatives… 

That name Frisk… it was familiar in the worst of ways. Sat on the table was their Frisk Score, a calculation of bankruptcy over the next 12 months. Theirs measured a measly was a 1 out of 10. There was a 99.99% chance of going bankrupt in the next 6 months. 

Sans sat on the floor and clung to his brother for dear life. Rubbing his snot and tears into the cool dude shirt he wore. He missed holding his brother like this. The nightmares tormenting him… holding his brothers ashes after Frisk destroyed everything he loved… the nightmares felt distant now. The voices going quiet- Stretch and Boss…. Red and Blue… fading away. He wasn’t alone anymore. 

He didn’t need to pretend to be elsewhere… he didn’t need to pretend this was some adventure. There was a burst of clarity that filled his chest with a pang and rolled down his eyes without stopping. Heavy globs of tears, and incoherent cries and sobs filled the air. But Papyrus was there. Papyrus cradled his skull, and promised he was going to help. 

He promised things would get better….


End file.
